With a suddenly tight 5-4 lead and her Amador Valley High School softball team reeling from the home run Campolindo’s Sophie McCarthy just hit, it became pitcher Haley Douglas’ job to shut the door and preserve the Dons’ lead.

So she shut the door, locked it and threw away the key.

Douglas came in and retired the next two to close out the fifth inning and she worked a scoreless sixth to give Amador Valley a 5-4 win over Campolindo to advance in the Queen of the Mountain tournament at Willow Pass Park in Concord.

With the win, Amador Valley moves on to play East Bay Athletic League foe Foothill today at 7:15 p.m. Campolindo will also play at 7:15 against Antioch.

Douglas’ impressive relief pitching capped a superb day at the plate for the Dons (4-0). Rallies in the first, third and fourth innings kept the pressure on and Amador Valley ahead.

“Every inning we had runners on, some we didn’t convert and others we did,” Amador Valley coach Julie Marshall said. “This team’s got a lot of heart and they came out swinging.”

Campolindo (1-4) took the field against the Dons in what was actually its second game of the day. The Cougars beat Acalanes in a Diablo Foothill Athletic League game earlier in the day and it showed in the early going as they struggled to mount any offense.

That changed in the fourth inning. A leadoff triple by McCarthy was followed by infield singles by Olivia Hirsch and Rose Fruci. By the time the inning was over, the Cougars trailed 3-2.

After Amador Valley tacked on two more in the bottom of the inning, Jordan Blumberg-Long led off the fifth with a single to center field. Amador Valley starter Georgia Bloom struck out the next batter but McCarthy was next and she drilled a first-pitch fastball over the left fielder’s head for a two-run home run.

“What I told them was they played a very big, very strong team dead even,” Campolindo coach Joe Long said. “A few breaks go a different way and it would have been a different result.”

BASEBALL

Las Lomas 4, Miramonte 2: Just two days after the Matadors peppered Alhambra for 17 hits, Knights pitcher David Peterson effectively shut the Miramonte offense down. Peterson went the distance and struck out 13 as host Las Lomas picked up its first DFAL victory.

The Matadors (3-2, 1-1 DFAL) scored an unearned run in the first, but Las Lomas battled back to reclaim a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. The Knights (3-2,1-1) broke open the game the following inning on a two-run home run by Rex Peters.

Peterson (2-1) has logged double-digit strikeout totals in each of his first three starts.

— Staff

De La Salle 8, Freedom 7: The Spartans scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth, and it was just enough to prevent a Bay Valley Athletic League upset at the hand of the visiting Falcons.

Taking advantage of a shaky start by Nick Berhel, Freedom (3-2, 1-1 BVAL) built a 7-0 lead through the first 21/2 innings. Meanwhile, Falcons starter Billy Wardell gave up just two runs in the third inning, and had a 7-2 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.

De La Salle (3-1, 2-0) finally got to Wardell in the sixth. Eric Angerer hit a two-run double with one out to make it 7-4. Freedom then brought Richie Gollob out of the bullpen, but he couldn’t slow the Spartans’ momentum. Michael Chaves hit a two-run single to make it 7-6. Mike Franceschi hit a game-tying single, and Brad Jones singled in the go-ahead run.

Nick Winterhalder (1-0) got the victory in relief.

— Staff

St. Mary’s 2, Piedmont 1: In a pitching duel between the Panthers’ Matt Flemer and the Highlanders’ Jordan Remer, the Panthers came out on top despite managing only one hit off Remer.

The visiting Panthers (3-0 Bay Shore Athletic League) scored the winning run in the sixth inning. Flemer allowed only one earned run and six hits, struck out 10 and walked only one. Remer had eight strikeouts in his one-hitter for Piedmont (4-2, 1-1 BSAL).